- Motivational & Inspirational Quotes To Guide Your Visions & Dreams
Owning and being in business can be a tremendous joy and an enormous amount of work. There are times when one can become overwhelmed with the day-to-day activities and lose sight of the big picture, the dream, and the vision. One always needs to be strategically focused on the vision, the mission and the goals of the business and be reminded to work "on the business" and not just "in the business" as Michael Gerber would tell us.But how does one do that? I love quotations and recently found a dozen quotes that I have used to help motivate and inspire me to keep focusing on the vision and the dream. Here are the dozen quotes that help guide your strategic thinking business coach. - What Color is Your Marketing and What is It Saying?
Do you have any idea what role color plays in your marketing efforts? And if so, do you know what message your marketing efforts are conveying with the colors you use? Let me tell you that the colors you use in your marketing efforts - your brochures, business cards, letterhead, signage, office interiors, and more - play a very important role in motivating people. The colors speak loudly and clearly, so I believe it is in our best interest to learn what the colors convey in our marketing. - Ten Most Significant Risks and Costs of Unethical Behavior in Business
The business world has been shocked and rocked by major corporate scandals involving unethical behavior. The real "poster" companies of ethics violations include: Enron, Tyco International, WorldCom, Global Crossing and Adelphia. The risks and costs associated with these examples of unethical behavior are astronomical in dollars, but also extremely high in other non-quantified costs and risks. These other significant risks and costs from unethical behavior include: - Thirteen Tried and True Ways to Increase Revenue From Your Existing Customers
Are you overlooking one of the biggest sources of increased revenues for your business by not focusing a targeted marketing effort on your existing customers? Experience has proven that your existing customers are the most effective and efficient source of more revenue since you already have an existing relationship with them. Increased sales can come through them via an increase in the total number of purchases, higher frequency of purchases and higher dollar value of each purchase. So, what are some ways to achieve those increased dollars from your existing customer base? Here are thirteen (13) of what I consider to be "tried and true" ways to gain more revenue from your existing customers. - Strategic Communications - Don't Just Listen, Listen & Hear!
Almost every day we encounter an ad, a slogan, or some other communication that admonishes us to Listen! Entire ad campaigns have been built around a theme that tells the world that they listen to their customers. And I agree that listening is a very powerful way to connect with another person. That being said, I firmly believe that listening is only part of the power. The real power comes when we LISTEN & HEAR! - Business Ethics Must Be Presented, Preserved and Promoted
Business ethics are an almost daily topic in the news, in business schools, in the workplace and in our homes. I pay close attention to business ethics and what is written about them in my daily life as a strategic thinking, planning and business coach. I am still astounded at the remarks of major corporations a few years ago when they said they "waived or suspended" the ethics code or requirements. I am still at a total loss at how anyone can "suspend or waive" ethics. While I may not be able to explain the suspension or waiving of ethics, I do hope to provide some solid advice on what business and other organizations need to do today to present, preserve and promote ethics in their organizations. - Strategic Thinking - A Wise Business Investment, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Strategic thinking is critical to the long-term success of businesses today. Yet, there are too many businesses that fail to invest time, money and human capital into planning for the future. So many businesses are concentrating only on the day-to-day activities in their business and are failing to create or remember a vision for the future. Some businesses work diligently to create strategic plans, business plans, integrated marketing communications plans, etc. only to leave these plans dormant on some shelf. They fail to remember that these plans are living documents, which warrant follow-through, review and updates. - If You Have Business Challenges-Issues & Opportunities-Get Strategic Thinking Business Coaching!
Looking at today's businesses, the business owner and their management team, I see many challenges, issues and opportunities they face every day. In fact, I help the owners and their management teams deal with business challenges, issues and opportunities, as a strategic thinking business coach. Let's see if you are dealing with any of these challenges, issues or opportunities by answering the following questions: Are you dealing with any of these business challenges, issues or opportunities? - Crisis Communications Planning or What To Do Before-During Or After It Hits The Fan
Do you have a crisis management or crisis communications plan for your business or organization? Do you believe your business or organization is too small to need a crisis communications plan? Or do you believe that crises only happen to others? If you are like the majority of businesses and organizations today, especially small to medium sized ones, you answered NO to the first question and probably YES to the second question. And I hope you answered NO to the third question. Well, I cannot emphasize too strongly that no matter how big or small you are, every organization should have a crisis management and crisis communications plan. - Networking Tips for Introverts or How to Break The Ice Without Fear of Falling Through
Do you "freeze up" when you are in a room full of people with some great networking opportunities? Are you timid, shy, and bashful around people at business and social gatherings? If you admitted that this description fits you, please understand that you are not alone. Introverts are one group of people that are really affected by this freeze up. Mention "networking" to introverts and the introverts may freeze up and become the "ice" they need to "break" in networking. What can be done to address this situation? I thought about this and developed some tips I would give to introverts on networking. Here are six tips on networking for introverts to prevent "freeze-up." - Non-Disclosure-Confidentiality Agreements-Don't Hire Anyone Without Signing One
If you are not worried or concerned in the business world we live in today, then I suggest you become concerned now, not later! Technology and business information have continued to expand exponentially in today's business environment. Employees and contract workers are more likely to be exposed to a significant amount of proprietary information and therein lays a potential threat to your business. It would be very naive and not very "business savvy" to believe you can automatically trust an employee or contract worker with trade secrets, innovative ideas, and other confidential information. The threat or risk is higher today because of digital cameras; cell phones with built-in cameras and flash drives used to snap a picture or download documents. - Ten MVP (Most Valuable Personal) Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs
Since beginning my own entrepreneurial ventures in 1982, I have observed much and learned much about what is behind the success of entrepreneurs. I have selected a number of those traits and call them Ten MVP, or Most Valuable Personal, traits of successful entrepreneurs. The selected traits shown below reflect my opinion from personal observation and are not listed in priority order. - Thirteen Strategic & Cost Effective Ideas to Increase Your Business Revenue and Profits
Growing your business is a continuous effort and goal. Business owners and managers need to think and plan more strategically to grow their businesses. Here are thirteen (13) simple and strategic ideas that will help increase sale and profits, but will not strain or demolish your budget. - Thirteen Strategic, Creative and Inexpensive Ideas to Create Awareness For Your Business
Business owners and managers want to create awareness of their business. And many times they want to (or have to) create that awareness with a very small or no budget. This presents a challenge so one needs to apply some strategic thinking to do this. Employing some strategic thinking, here are thirteen (13) strategic, creative and inexpensive ways to inform your existing and prospective customers and clients know who you are, what you do, and what core values you exemplify in your business. - A Strategic Action Plan For Recession Resistant Marketing
As the U.S. and the global economies move up and down, there is always some talk that arises about concern of a worldwide recession. Let's acknowledge that we are sometimes over-run by pessimists. When the pessimists start talking up a recession, people start to worry, get scared and begin to develop contingency plans. So what would a strategic thinking professional do to make his or her business recession resistant? There is one thing that must be crystal clear - you must never stop marketing! If you stop marketing, your business will fail. Using a strategic thinking and business coach approach, here is my recommended strategic action plan for recession resistant marketing. - A Positive Look at Media Interviews and A Prescription For Successful Media Interviews
As you read the headline, I can almost hear some of you asking, "How can there be anything positive about media interviews? I would rather go for a painful visit to my dentist than participate in a media interview". Well, I want to tell you that in more than 35 years of media interviews in my professional career, I remain positive about media interviews and will share some thoughts with you. And just in case you might believe that all those media interviews were fun & friendly, I can assure you they were not. Here is a prescription for successful media interviews. - A Strategic View of Changing Customer Complaints Into Customer Compliments
When someone complains about their experience with your business, how do you view those complaints? Do you encourage people to complain if they are not satisfied with your product or service? Do you have any type of procedure to handle complaints? Do you have any idea of the value of complaints? Did you know that 70% of dissatisfied customers will return if their complaint is resolved favorably? Did you know that 95% of dissatisfied customers will return if you resolve their complaint on the spot? Complaining customers are really a treasure. That means there is great value in resolving complaints. Here are some actions to turn complaints into compliments. - Business Ethics-What's Happening Where We Work?
The National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) provides an overview of ethics in the workplace and the 2005 version indicates that ethical misconduct is increasing. And this is after Enron, et al. The NBES included more than 3,000 American workers and their survey showed that more than half of American workers have observed at least one type of ethical misconduct in the workplace. Yet, employee reporting of the misconduct they observe is down by 10 percent. This is cause for alarm, in my opinion, and more businesses need to be aware of what is happening with ethics at work today. - Do You Know Where Your Succession Plan Is? And Do You Know What To Do If You Can't Find It?
Many business people detest thinking about succession planning, let alone actually doing succession planning. It becomes another one of those items to be done "tomorrow". The enormous risk in putting this off is that without a succession plan in place, the continuity of the business and its future direction could be totally lost. And it is important to impress upon you that succession planning is needed earlier in your life of your business, not later. In many instances, people have great difficulty in handing over the controls of their business and it is very painful to do so. However, if you use good solid strategic thinking and planning you can develop a well designed succession plan. Time after time I see and read about an owner getting very sick, injured, dying or plain "burned out" without any system in place to see that the business continues and the owner's family is taken care of in the future. - Dysfunctional Planning of Goals Facilitates Failure
That age old adage, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail" may be more true in today's business world, than at any other time. I have been truly amazed at how many clients I have that will tell me that they never had any kind of business plan, marketing plan, financial plan, strategic plan or any kind of plan, until they met me and starting working with me in a business coaching relationship. And they all shared various forms of challenges, frustrations, issues, etc. with their business. Well, honestly, in the absence of planning or in the presence of dysfunctional planning, the diagnosis is simple as to the reasons for the struggles. - Handling Customer Complaints With Class
If you currently do not view customer complaints as a valuable opportunity, you are ignoring a very effective strategic tool for success. In more than 35 years of professional experience in marketing, I can assure you that the effective handling of complaints and a good service recovery strategy are very valuable marketing opportunities. The sad news here is that many businesses simply do not accept this and squander many opportunities to grow their business. I suggest a way to view complaints is to look at the complaints received and then develop and implement an effective means of managing complaints to produce positive outcomes for the customer and your business. Here are 10 things to do to manage complaints in a classy manner. - How Clear Is Your Vision For Your Business? Is It Time For A Business Vision Examination?
When was the last time you really examined your vision for your business? As the calendar year or the fiscal year draws to a close, this could present perfect timing for an examination of your vision for your business. A vision is dynamic and it requires periodic examination in order to retain your strategic focus in business. Here are ten (10) questions from your strategic thinking business coach to use to perform an annual examination of your business vision. - How to Transform Your Time Spent in Business Meetings From Time Wasted to Time Well Spent
How many of you reading this article has suffered through very dull, inefficient, and unwarranted business meetings that wasted your valuable time? And how many of you wished it was possible to transform the wasted time into time well spent? If you answered YES, please pay attention to the dozen tips I am sharing with you on how to transform time wasted into time well spent in your business meetings. - How to Build Successful Strategic Alliances
A strategic alliance is a partnership, a collaborative agreement and/or a relationship between two or more companies or organizations formed to pursue a set of agreed upon goals while remaining independent companies or organizations. Strategic alliances exist in a variety of shapes and sizes and include a wide range of scopes of cooperation levels. Strategic alliances usually are most effective when the entities involved have complementary strengths. Here are the ten (10) suggested actions to take to build successful strategic alliances. - How Valuable Are Your Ethics or What is Your Price to Compromise Your Ethics?
Everyone in business will eventually face a real crisis of conscience at some point or points in his or her career. Before you face that critical choice, I believe most people would say it is easy to think that they will act ethically, no matter what the personal cost. However, what will you really do when you are faced with the personal cost of losing the job you love (or desperately need) and placing your family's welfare and your own self worth in jeopardy?Is your personal respect and integrity negotiable? It is probably safe to say that all or certainly most of us have encountered situations where there was a bending of the rules; the special person, client or coworker who gets special consideration; the dishonest deal; the telling of a blatant untruth; and so on. Do you have an ethical compass in good working order to guide you in resolving these ethical dilemmas? - Increased, Irritating, Invasive, Inconsiderate, Insensitive, Interruptions of Cell Phone Users
My personal experiences the past few weeks have provided "up close and personal" confirmation of people becoming more and more rude with their cell phones. And the personal observations are backed up by many polls, which indicate such findings as: cell phone rudeness is the #1 complaint of diners (Zagat Restaurant Survey); the most abhorred uses of cell phones (according to USA Today) are over dinner (86%), in a meeting (88%), in a movie (96%) and at a funeral (98%); and the worst cell phone habit is unnecessarily loud conversations in public places (Spovate market research). Here are my suggestions for some simple guidelines for cell phone etiquette. - Nine Commitments That Emphasize Business Ethics & Company Core Values Are Extremely Crucial
In the last few years, business ethics and company core values are among the most critical discussions I facilitate during strategic planning and business coaching endeavors. My encouragement to clients is to go "public" with their core values and ethical standards so it becomes known what the company stands for and how the leaders will conduct business. Many businesses also will use the core values and ethical standards for guidance in making critical decisions, to create an ethical corporate culture, to attract high quality employees and to differentiate themselves from competitors. Based upon my personal and professional experiences and research, I would recommend making the following nine commitments. - Ten Strategic Tips On How to Overcome Public Speaking Fears
When it comes to public speaking, do you welcome the opportunity or do you run for cover? Do you accept each chance presented or do you make up a long list of reasons to be excused from the task? If you answered NO to these questions, it is important for you to read this because public speaking presents some very positive development opportunities for you and there are things you can do to overcome your fears of public speaking. So what can you do if you do fear public speaking? Here are ten (10) strategic tips to overcome that fear and make public speaking easy. - Powerful Strategies For Meeting And Greeting People
Every day in every businesspersons life, there are many meetings and greetings. And many of those are an initial contact were you want to ensure you make a strong positive first impression. Still others present great opportunities to enhance existing relationships. So if we think strategically, what simple strategies can we use to ensure successful meetings and greetings? The ten simplest and most effective strategies for meeting and greeting people that I have discovered and used are: - Powerful Business Etiquette Tips
Have you observed social gaffes and just plain inappropriate behavior at business meetings? Have you ever seen someone make a fool of themselves in a business meeting? Do you feel comfortable in knowing what to do as proper business etiquette in a business meeting? It is very important to know proper business etiquette because it is very critical to your image and the relationship building process. In my business career and in particular, during my business coaching endeavors, I have learned some very powerful tips to help avoid mistakes in business etiquette that are so easy to make. Here are ten (10) of my favorites. - Seven Reasons Why You Need A Strategic Planning Facilitator
A professional facilitator brings an independent and open-minded perspective to your strategic planning process. He or she will keep the discussion focused, keep the process on track, and will encourage team members to act as equals in the process. Some organizations choose to “go it alone” and attempt to conduct the strategic planning process entirely “in house.” In my own personal and professional experiences over more than 35 years, I have always witnessed better outcomes of the strategic planning process when an outside professional facilitator is brought in. Here are seven reasons why it is recommended that you hire an outside facilitator. - Ten Major Mistakes To Avoid In Preparing Business Plans
How many times have you heard about a business failure and one of the keys to that failure was lack of planning and/or a poor business plan? I was recently interviewed for a business publication story on business failures and the relationship of those failures to poor or no planning and to poor business plans. Every business should have a business plan. And the business plan must avoid several major mistakes that make a business plan a "poor" business plan. Here are ten (10) major mistakes to avoid when preparing business plans, according to Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach. - Ten Important Ingredients For Your Strategic Marketing Plan
Strategic thinking is very important in developing an effective marketing plan for your business. You need to think about a compelling Unique Selling Proposition (USP); an effective positioning statement; and a strategic integrated marketing communications approach. Writing a Strategic Marketing Plan is about understanding the needs and desires of your customers and clients, and showing them how your product and/or service will satisfy the needs of your customers and clients and solve their problems. Here are Ten (10) Important Ingredients For Strategic Marketing Plans. - Ten More Benefits From Strategic Planning
Strategy is about making choices and your strategic thinking business coach always wants to guide you in the making of the most educated, informed and strategic choices in your business. Today's businesses need a process to guide them in successfully developing and implementing strategies for growth and solutions to business issues, needs and problems. Strategic planning is the process that all businesses need. Strategic planning will save you time, get you and your management team focused, and provide a road map to reach your business and personal visions. In any business activity, one looks for benefits. Here are ten (10) more benefits from strategic planning. - Ten Powerful Principles Behind Becoming A "World-Class" Achiever
Each year, thousands and thousands of people set goals for their business and personal endeavors. And each year there are thousands and thousands of set goals that remain incomplete and transferred from one year to the next. This means that there are thousands of people ending up with feelings of frustrations year after year. So what do "world-class" achievers do to overcome that frustration and meet the challenges of reaching their goals? Here are ten (10) powerful principles behind becoming a "world-class" achiever. - Just Say No – Loudly & Clearly – To Unethical Clients!
Have you ever been asked to do something unethical by one of your prospects or clients? Have you ever been pressured by a supervisor, manager or owner at your business to do something unethical? Have you ever observed unethical behavior by a prospect or client? In today's business world, there are daily instances of unethical behavior occurring all around us. What a sad commentary on business and society today. - A Strategic Approach To Planning For A New Business Year - Ask Your Clients Questions
A new business year has begun and hopefully your strategic thinking and planning has been underway for some time. A strategic thinking business coach suggests that asking clients some probing questions will be very beneficial in your planning efforts for the new business year. The strategy of asking these questions is to gain insight for developing the best solutions for your clients' problems. Asking questions will help you gain needed information from your clients; build rapport with your clients; increase the clients' comfort level; understand the clients' needs; and discover the clients' concerns, frustrations and fears. You can begin by asking questions that will let you know what is going right with your clients and hen transition into areas where problems may have occurred. And it is always important to initially focus on your client, rather than you and your client. - A Strategic Look At Do's and Don'ts of Board Meeting Minutes
Do you serve on a board of directors and experience significant inaccuracies and inconsistencies in board minutes? Do you know that board minutes are really a very important resource to governing boards? Minutes of board meetings provide evidence that a board has exercised care in decision-making. The minutes also substantiate that a board is operating in accordance with its Bylaws and other documents and rules. Although there is recognition that board minutes are important, many organizations continue to have inadequate records of board meetings. One of the most common mistakes made in board meeting minutes is the tendency to record too much. This may take the form of casual but inconsequential statements made during the meeting to the ultimate mistake of recording every spoken word. Your strategic thinking business coach offers some guidance on board meeting minutes by providing a list of the DO’s and DON’Ts of board meeting minutes. - A Strategic Look At Email Subject Lines From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
What are the first things you look at before you open any of your emails? And what two items will determine whether or not you will open the email? You will most likely view the "from" email address first and then look at the "subject" line next before deciding to open you email. The "subject" line is really the equivalent of a newspaper headline and it is a very important factor in a person's decision of whether or not to "read on" or in the case of email, "to open." There is a significant challenge to writing a great "subject" line or a great headline. The truth is that you have a few seconds and only a few words to make your "subject" line compelling and urgent enough to get the reader's attention and then "open and read on." - Building An Environment Of Ethical Behavior Ten Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Business ethics has become and has remained a popular news topic in today's world thanks to Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Adelphia, et al. We have read and heard about the "waiving of the ethics code or standard" and where compromises were made to ethical standards for business advantages. And now we hear about zero tolerance for unethical behavior. It now seems as though the pendulum is swinging strongly in the direction of zero tolerance for unethical behavior based upon the reactions to ethics misconduct cases across the corporate landscape. Good business leaders have ethics, character and integrity. To lead and operate an ethical organization, you have to create an environment for your people that allows them to operate in an ethical manner. Here are ten (10) tips from your strategic thinking business coach on how to build an environment of ethical behavior. - Business Coaching Tips For Effective Supervision From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
In today's workplace there are daily examples of dysfunctional and ineffective supervision. Many people in supervisory roles have not been given the necessary training to be effective supervisors. Here are ten (10) tips from your strategic thinking coach to share with the supervisors in your businesses and organizations. - Strategic Tips For Dealing With Stress In The Small Business Workplace
It is certainly no secret that stress is a fact of daily life ad is especially true in the small business workplace. And what makes it worse is most small business owners must face the challenges alone or with little or no support systems. A strategic thinking small business owner knows that he or she must be very aware of their own level of stress, as well as the stress levels of their employees because of the potential negative impacts. The reduction of stress in the small business workplace is a very important goal. Here are some tips on how to deal with stress in a proactive way, according to your strategic thinking business coach. - Demonstrating Effective Leadership By Learning How To "Walk The Talk" One Step At A Time
In businesses and organizations today we hear a repeated complaint that leaders say they want change and continuous improvement, but their actions speak louder than their words. If a leader wants to create real changes in a company’s values, culture and/or employee behavior, they must commit to learn how to "walk the talk." Here are some tips from your strategic thinking business coach to illustrate how to "Walk The Talk" one step at a time. - Do You Know What You Say Before You Utter One Word? The Importance of Your Body Language
Think about all the face-to-face encounters you have each day, each week, each month and each year. And then think about how the success of any of these encounters all begins the instant someone sees you. Do you realize that one of the first things people notice about you is your aura or that distinctive atmosphere that surrounds you? You create that aura and you are responsible for what it says about you and whom it attracts. Why is this important? Look at the article title – Do You Know What You Say Before You Utter One Word? Well, let me remind you that 55% of your personal message is conveyed by your body language, 38% by the tone of your voice and 7% by your words. This should tell us that sensitivity to and an understanding of body language are very important to us. - Eight Powerful Strategies To Retain Clients, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Do you practice strategic thinking in your marketing efforts? Do you develop client-retention strategies, in addition to strategies to gain new clients? If you answered NO to these questions, you may want to rethink the way you are doing your marketing. My experience indicates that a strategic approach to client retention is underutilized and therefore a great deal of energy, time, talent and money is being wasted in marketing efforts seeking new clients and ignoring or giving “second rate” efforts to retaining existing clients. Do you practice strategic thinking in your marketing efforts? Do you develop client-retention strategies, in addition to strategies to gain new clients? If you answered NO to these questions, you may want to rethink the way you are doing your marketing. My experience indicates that a strategic approach to client retention is underutilized and therefore a great deal of energy, time, talent and money is being wasted in marketing efforts seeking new clients and ignoring or giving “second rate” efforts to retaining existing clients. - Eleven Strategic Steps To Success - According Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Are you the best you can be? Are you realizing the degree of success that you want? Do you know what you really need to do to achieve your ultimate level of success? I will presume that there are a lot of NO answers to my questions and that you will have an open mind while reading these articles. Your strategic thinking business coach offers eleven (11) strategic steps for you to follow to achieve your ultimate level of success. - How To Be More Media Savvy and Less Media Ignorant. Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Too many people in business today are not media savvy and continue to make one mistake after the other in their dealings with the media. It is important for business people to become more media savvy and less media ignorant. There needs to be a commitment made to learn more about working with the media in a positive way. Based upon more than 35 years of experience in working with the media, your strategic thinking business coach created a list of ten (10) tips on what to avoid doing when you work with the media in order to foster more positive media relations. Here is the list of actions to avoid: - How To Benefit From The Awesome Power of Two Simple Words –Thank You!
Two simple words put together as "Thank you!" have awesome power that binds and builds relationships. Think of the times you received thanks verbally or in writing and you will have sensitivity to this power. "Thank you” confirms that something positive and special has happened and also provides the opportunity to return some very positive emotions back to the giver of thanks. So you are asking how can you benefit from this awesome power of thank you. Here are seven (7) tips on how to do that from your strategic thinking business coach. - How To Hone Your Strategic Thinking Skills To Plan For The New Business Year
Strategic thinking is always important. The initiation of planning for the new business year is an especially important time for strategic thinking. In businesses where strategic thinking, planning and actions drive the company, the business owners and management team need to hone their strategic thinking skills to begin the planning for the new business year. Here are ten (10) recommended ways to hone your strategic thinking skills. - How To Identify Your Marketing Barriers
Do you have a strategic marketing plan and process? Are you satisfied with your marketing results? Have you taken time to review your marketing program and determine what barriers are preventing the achievement of a successful marketing program? I believe I know the answers to these questions from too many businesses today. I too often hear a resounding NO to each of the questions. What questions might you ask to define your marketing barriers? Here are ten (10) questions to help identify the barriers that stand between you and a successful marketing program. - Ten Tips For Nonverbal Communications From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Good communication skills are critical skills for anyone wanting to advance in their professional career. Good communication skills also can help you in your personal life. Although we know that verbal and written communication skills are important, research has shown that nonverbal behaviors make up a large percentage of our daily interpersonal communication. In fact, the research shows that 7% of our personal messages are conveyed by words; 38% by tone of voice and 55% by facial expressions and body language. That is why it is so important to become skilled at nonverbal communications. - Strategic Business Tips When Firing Someone From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
One of the most uncomfortable actions in business is the termination of an employee. When an employee is terminated, there is pain for each party involved. Many people postpone the inevitable termination and this only increases the pain and frustration. Your strategic thinking business coach has some tips on how to terminate someone properly so both parties get through the process. - Strategic Business Tips On How To Deal With The Departure of Key Executive
One of the events that occurs in business is the departure of a key executive. This has the potential to be very disruptive and can have a significant emotional impact on employees. So how do you deal with these feelings? Your strategic thinking business coach has some tips on how to deal with the departure of a key executive. - Strategic Business Tips On How To Achieve Civility In Today's Workplace
Today's workplace is very dynamic, sometimes very stressful, and too often not very civil. We certainly observe the lack of civility in the workplace with people calling each other names, engaging in personal attacks on each other, exhibiting rude and disruptive behaviors and the lack of respect for one another or ignorance of how behaviors affect others. I believe there is a real desire for the restoration of civility in the workplace. - Strategic Business Entertaining Ideas From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Business entertaining is expensive and time-consuming and warrants being very strategic and goal oriented beyond what the goals are for business breakfasts and lunches. It is good to know that one of the main purposes of the business entertaining is to make people feel good and to have a good time. It is critical to consider whether the event will emphasize and underline your business mission in a subtle professional way and if your guests will have an enjoyable time and come away with a better understanding of your company, its goals and its core values. Your strategic thinking business coach has some suggestions for different types of events that might fulfill your strategic business entertaining goals. - Strategic Benefits of Business Coaching, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
There is a rapid growth of business coaching in the United States and those people who have business coaches are realizing some strategic personal and business benefits. These people are gaining an understanding of what is possible for them and their business through business coaching. These growing numbers of people that have business coaches are reaping the strategic benefits of business coaching. Some of these strategic benefits that are being realized, according to your strategic thinking business coach, include: - Seven Simple Strategies To Increase Your Visibility In The Media
Do you ever notice or even pay attention to how many times your competition appears in the media? Did you ever wonder how or why the same professionals are interviewed as experts in the media? Do you realize the positive impacts that can result from your visibility in the media? Well, if you have noticed and do realize the potential benefits of media attention, what have you done about it? If you want to increase your visibility in the media, then you must commit to implementing some simple strategies to do so. Your strategic thinking business coach offers the following seven (7) simple strategies to gain media attention and visibility. - Strategic Thinking Business Ethics Advice - Just Say NO – Loudly & Clearly - To Unethical Clients!
Have you ever been asked to do something unethical by one of your prospects or clients? Have you ever been pressured by a supervisor, manager or owner at your business to do something unethical? Have you ever observed unethical behavior by a prospect or client? One must always ask – what price do I put on my ethics? How can one justify a compromise of their ethics? It is essential to have some good advice on how to reduce the chance of an improper request from a client or prospect and how to respond when actually approached by an unethical prospect or client. Your strategic thinking business coach offers the following advice. - New Year, New Intentions, New Stress, Ten New Opportunities To Manage The Stress of Change
The new year resets the calendar and it is a good time to look at managing the stress of a new year and the changes it will bring. A little stress is actually something positive until it elevates itself into being overwhelming. So, How can we manage the stress of change so it does not become overwhelming? Let's look at just how busy we are on a daily basis. Look at how much we try to "cram" into a single day. Is it a surprise that many people are stressed? So, if we agree that stress is something that is almost impossible to avoid, here are ten (10) tips from your strategic thinking business coach on how to manage the stress of change. - The Difference Between Strategic & Tactical and Why Business Owners Need To Know The Difference
Has anyone ever told you that you need to become more strategic and less tactical in your business? Do you know the difference between strategic and tactical? Are you confused about what is strategic and what is tactical? Based upon observations of business owners and their management teams for the past three decades, I believe there are many confused, misinformed, and-or uneducated people on the differentiation of strategic and tactical. So, let your strategic thinking business coach offer some assistance to eliminate the confusion and correctly inform and educate the reader in this matter. - Ten Top Tips For Staff Motivation, From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Do you have a happy and highly motivated staff in your business? Have you made a commitment to create an enjoyable and productive environment at work? If you answered NO to either of these questions, then it is time to wake up and learn some tips about how to motivate your workforce and to keep them happy. If you want to attract and retain valuable employees, then you must recognize the need to make your place of business a better, more enjoyable place to work. Here are ten (10) top tips from your strategic thinking business coach to help you. - Ten Top Tips For A Healthy Business To Start The New Year
The beginning of a new year is a great time to get a checkup on the fitness and health of your business as strategic preparation for the year ahead. Business owners and their management team have the opportunity to perform an annual "checkup" on every aspect of their business, get rid of the "unhealthy" behaviors and performances and address the "unhealthy" things in their businesses, and start with a fitness plan to ensure a prosperous new year. Here are ten top tips to ensure a healthy start to the new year from your strategic thinking business coach. - Ten Tips on How To Gain Outstanding Performance From Your Team Through Coaching and Mentoring
Are you witnessing outstanding performances by your employees? If not, are you providing some form of feedback to your employees as to their level of performance and your satisfaction with their performance? Are you doing any coaching or mentoring with your employees? It is very important to know that you need to institute some form of an ongoing program to monitor, mentor and coach your staff on a regular basis if you want to have outstanding performance from them. The age-old argument that owners, managers and supervisors do not have time to mentor and coach and give feedback is dysfunctional and not acceptable. Here are ten (10) tips from your strategic thinking business coach on coaching & mentoring. - Ten Most Admired Characteristics Of Successful Business Coaches
Do you know what some of the most admired characteristics are of successful business coaches? Recently I was interviewed for an article on business coaching and was asked what I believed to be the most admired characteristics of successful business coaches. Here are the ten (10) characteristics that I shared with the interviewer in response to their question. - Lessons Learned From Strategic Marketing From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Businesses need to be strategic! There are too many businesses that have failed to recognize the value of being strategic in their thinking and planning and have limited themselves to less than optimum results. Today, I want to present some thoughts about strategic marketing plans. I continue to be amazed at how many businesses have no marketing plan at all, let alone a strategic marketing plan. The truth is that the only marketing plan some businesses have is one on "the seat of their pants." Over the many years of working with business owners, their management teams and employees, there have been many opportunities to experience and capture the "lessons learned" from heir endeavors. - Strategic Elements Needed To Produce Compelling Written Sales Communications
We all receive various forms of written sales communications each week. Some of these will cause us to totally ignore the piece, others will get a few seconds of our attention and a very select few will grab and hold our attention. So what compels us to respond in these ways? After applying some strategic thinking to this question, here are ten (10) elements that Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach believes produces compelling written sales communications. - Seven Strategic Tips For Selling Professional Services Brand
Selling professional services presents many challenges and problems with closing a deal with a prospect and/or client. The term "closing" has an inherent seller-orientation and it can be interpreted as putting your needs ahead of the client's needs. And that is never a desired interpretation for those who sell professional services. The "closing" model also presents some conflicts between the belief that buying is driven by rational decision-making, rather than emotion. What is important is to have the buyer of professional services feel comfortable about a rational decision they have to make. The emphasis is on creating a high "comfort level" for the buyer when making the decision. - A Strategic Approach To Produce A Strong Professional Services Brand
A professional services firm, just like other types of businesses, needs to develop a strong brand and a favorable impression in the minds of prospects, clients and stakeholders in their business. In smaller professional service firms, there are limited financial resources for advertising as a primary branding vehicle. Therefore, as strategic approach is imperative to maximize the impact of available resources to rand your professional services firm. How do you influence your market in a strategic way that produces a favorable image of your firm in the minds of your prospects, clients and stakeholders? Your strategic thinking business coach recommends the following strategic approach. - Public Relations As A Strategic Tool To Integrate With Your Marketing Efforts
Integrated marketing communications is a very effective tool for all businesses. The integration of advertising, marketing and public relations is much more strategic than pursuing each of those elements separately. The old traditional use of advertising as the principal means of promotion for business is no longer effective. In my business coaching experience I have seen too many companies wasting significant resources by following an advertising strategy that does not work because it does not reach their target audience, has an emphasis on the "glitz and technology" rather than an emphasis on content, and is simply misdirected. Adopting a strategy of integrating public relations into your marketing efforts is required to implement a successful marketing campaign. - Six Strategic Things To Remember When Requesting Referrals
Referrals are important to most if not all businesses today. In a professional services business, such as business coaching, referrals are a major source of new clients. One of the strategic advantages of referrals is that they tend to be good quality prospects. And another strategic advantage is that they also tend to be relatively easy to convert into clients. It is imperative that you pay attention to the generation of referrals and the best way to do that is to ask for referrals at least two or three times a year from existing clients and professional and personal contacts. There are a few strategic things to remember when requesting referrals from any of the above-mentioned sources. And your strategic thinking business coach offers the following to remember. - Ten Strategic Actions To Ensure That You Reach Your Goals
Personal goals are set and then ignored after the first month. Goals at work are set and then set aside after a few months. Frustration in pursuing goals are causing efforts to be abandoned. What can be done to ensure that you will reach the goals you set? If we apply some strategic thinking to our setting and pursuit of goals, the probability of success will greatly increase. And your strategic thinking business coach wants to share ten (10) strategic actions to take to ensure that you reach your goals. Those ten (10) strategic actions are: - Ten Strategic Marketing Actions To Ensure Success In Your New Year
The beginning of a new calendar or fiscal year is a great time to use those good intentions we have about new beginnings and jump-start our marketing efforts. So, using a strategic thinking approach, here are ten (10) strategic marketing actions to ensure success in your new year. - The Dangerous Consequences of Micromanaging Your Business
One of the most dangerous and damaging practices of business owners is MICROMANAGING their business. And this practice is entirely too prevalent in today's business world and it wastes valuable resources of time, talent and financial assets. It is particularly prevalent in entrepreneurial businesses. And the reason behind that may be rooted in the fact that entrepreneurs are motivated to start their businesses so they could be their own boss, make more money and gain more freedom. To be successful in today's business world, it is imperative you adopt and develop a strategic thinking mind-set. - The Top Ten Myths And Realities About Business Coaching, According To Your Strategic Thinking Coach
I think it is safe to say that there are many preconceived notions about business coaching. Furthermore, some of these notions really are myths rather than reality. In an attempt to provide some insight into what are the major myths about business coaching, I have developed a list of the top ten myths and respective realities that are counter to each myth. - Ten Major Causes of Powerless Presentations, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Every day in the business world there are millions of presentations made. Unfortunately too many of those presentations are "powerless." In fact, we may even be so bold as to say a majority of those presentations are "powerless" due to one or more of ten major causes. In the opinion of Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach, the major causes of "powerless" ineffective and non-persuasive presentations are: - Seven Strategic Actions To Deal With Change And Uncertainty In Business And Life
Dealing with and handling change and uncertainty is one of the major challenges each of us faces in today’s world. And we face it in our business and personal lives. It can be said that change and uncertainty arrive together and that most people find it much more difficult to manage and endure ambiguity and waiting than to deal with changes as they happen. And, in my opinion, on thing is certain – each of us will face some type of change and uncertainty at multiple times during our life. So, what are some strategic actions we can take to deal with this change and uncertainty? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach researched this question and developed seven (7) strategic actions to recommend dealing with change and uncertainty in business and life. - Major Communication Tip For Successful Strategic Planning – Define Strategic Planning Terms First
One of the key elements in any endeavor is clear communications. This is especially true when doing strategic planning. So, my major communication tip to ensure more successful strategic planning efforts is to first provide basic definitions of major terms used in the strategic planning process. Having written definitions to hand out to all participants at the start of the process will help ensure that everyone knows the meaning of the terms being used throughout the strategic planning process facilitates this. Here are the definitions of major strategic planning terms that have served me well in all of my strategic planning efforts over more than 25 years. - A Strategic Approach To Setting & Achieving Your Goals For The New Year
The end of the calendar year or the end of the company's fiscal year presents an opportune time to review the performance of the past year and to develop some solid business goals for the new calendar or fiscal year. Using some strategic thinking, here are a few tips for setting and achieving your goals for the new year. - A Business Coach's Top Ten Tactics for Marketing Professional Services
Marketing professional services is a real and difficult challenge. The challenges of marketing professional services are different from those of marketing products. Two major reasons for the differences are that clients cannot see or touch professional services before they buy them and the professional services are often produced and consumed simultaneously. And another reason is that marketing professional services is split among marketing, sales, professional and management staff instead of a dedicated marketing and sales force. Based upon my research and my own professional experience, I developed a Top Ten Tactics for marketing professional services. - Best Ways To Identify Your Ideal Clients & Customers
As a business coach, I strongly believe that it would be great if all businesses today would know who their ideal clients and customers are. If I asked each of the readers of this article to tell me who your ideal clients are, could you tell me? Have you ever taken time to truly identify your ideal clients and what they are like? I suspect a majority of readers of this article answered NO to these questions. Too many business owners and managers cannot identify their ideal clients and customers and as a consequence they continue to "chase" any prospect and sell to everyone. By doing this, they work harder, not smarter, waste valuable time & resources, and they fail to grow their business. Worse yet, too many business owners and managers find it absolutely impossible to "walk away" from any prospect even when they know the prospect is not the right fit for their business. - Business Ethics Guidelines - An Ethical Action Test From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Each of us is ultimately responsible for our own actions. Although in today's business world, I imagine many skeptics would take exception to that statement because there is evidence that people are not held accountable for their actions, even when they are unethical. And even more disturbing, some are even rewarded for unethical actions. Each of us makes a choice to act ethically or to act unethically. It is essential that we know what is ethical and what is unethical. But, more challenging and difficult than knowing what is ethical, is knowing what is right and then doing what is right. Always doing the right thing is required for long-term success in your business and personal lives. So what advice and guidance are available to check if the action is right before implementing a decision to act? Well, your strategic thinking business coach has a set of questions to provide guidance to you for ethical decisions and actions. - Business Mentoring - Add It To Business Coaching For A Powerful Combination
In today's competitive and challenging business world, everyone looks for an edge, an advantage over the competition. In many cases, business people look to business mentoring or business coaching to give them a competitive advantage. But, I ask the question of why choose one or the other when you can choose and use both! The combination of business mentoring and business coaching provides some very awesome power to those who use both. - Crisis Management Planning - What's Happening Where We Work?
Crises continue to be in our newspaper headlines and the lead stories on radio and television broadcasts. And crises continue to affect businesses in many forms and continue to occur without notice. But what's happening where we work in response to this continuing trend of crises? Are businesses preparing for crises by developing crisis management plans? Do you know if your company has a crisis management plan or a business disaster recovery plan? Do they have a crisis communication plan? The American Management Association did a survey in August & September 2005 and what that survey revealed is summarized below. - Do You Control Your Email or Does Your Email Control You?
Recently while discussing time management issues with my business coaching clients and others, the topic of email and the amount of time we all spend dealing with business (and non-business) email at work. Those discussions gave impetus to this article. Do you ever wonder how many email boxes are in use by organizations all over the world? 100 million? 200 million? According to statistics I read in a recent article, there were an estimated 225 million email boxes in use by organizations in use in the world. Did I hear someone say WOW! We all need to manage our email activities in an efficient manner. Here are 6 tips to help you manage your email activity. - Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is - In Our Businesses Today?
The title of this article is derived from the title of a very popular 1960s song by the band, Chicago. It is also a question that needs to be asked in our businesses today. Do you know what time it is in your business when it comes to how much time is wasted in business each year? - Eight Key Characteristics For A Strategic Planning Facilitator
Selecting a professional strategic planning facilitator is very important. Facilitation of your strategic planning process involves working with groups of people and requires that the facilitator be tuned in at all times to what is happening. The facilitator also must be able to suspend or change the direction of the process when necessary. An experienced professional facilitator used in your strategic planning process will greatly increase the probability of a successful process and strategic plan and will also enable the participants to leave with positive feelings, a stronger cohesiveness, a sense of accomplishment and a stronger team. In selecting a professional facilitator, your strategic thinking business coach suggests that you look for the following key characteristics. - End of Year Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
As each year closes, we often wonder where the year has gone, how quickly it has passed and what we did or did not accomplish. He end of each year finds us thinking about holidays, gifts, parties and friends, as well as the closing out of another business year. The end of the year is a time to look back on the previous year and look forward to the next. And while reflecting on the past year, a strategic thinking business coach would like to suggest that you take time to remember and to give thanks for the great things that happened in your business. And to build on all of the positive things that you accomplished this past year and carry that positive momentum into next year. The end of the calendar or business year is a very good time to look at the lessons learned from any mistakes that you might have made and apply those lessons learned to correct past mistakes. - Essential Ingredients For An Effective Ad
We are literally bombarded with advertisements every day and in many forms. Each of these advertisements is competing for our very limited attention. One can say the competition is fierce. Therefore, your ads must be well thought out and have certain key attributes or what I choose to call "ingredients". Here are the essential ingredients I believe are necessary for an effective ad. - Essential Habits and Principles for Great Leadership
You have probably heard it said that many people are born leaders. However, the ability to lead is an art and requires learning a powerful set of skills and principles and then honing those skills and practicing those principles to the highest level. The legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said this about great leadership, "Leadership rests not only upon ability, not only upon capacity; having the capacity to lead is not enough. The leader must be willing to use it. His leadership is then based on truth and character". So, what are some of the essential habits and principles that will help you and your clients grow into great leaders? - Top Twelve FAILING TO DO Items That Will Undermine Your Business Success
Failing to do what needs to be done in your business will certainly undermine your business success. There are some proven things you must do to be successful in business. If you ignore these proven things by failing to take necessary action, you will be undermining your business success. Based upon some strategic thinking and more than 35 years of professional business experience, especially those years as a strategic thinking business coach, here is my list of twelve FAILING TO DO items that will undermine your business success. - Can Your Business Be Attractive to Investors? Thoughts From A Business Coach
If your company is at a point in its history and experiencing solid growth where you are considering looking for outside investors for your capital needs, then you want to know if your business will be or can be attractive to investors. If you plan to search for equity investors, you should know that they will expect a significant return on their investment (20% to 50% is not uncommon) and many times within 5 years. These investors will look carefully at the candidate company to characteristics that include, but are not limited to: a solid and proven management team; potential company growth; solid business plan; and evidence of strategic thinking and planning in a strategic plan with vision, mission core values and short term & long term goals. - How to Identify The Real Leaders Out There Among Us
How can you know a real leader when you see one? What do real leaders do that define them as leaders? Many people may consider themselves leaders, but in reality do not demonstrate principles of leadership and are not leaders are at. In today's world that are many imposter's posing as leaders. In order to assist you in identifying leaders in your company or organization, I have selected seven (7) actions that I believe real leaders take that define them as "real leaders." Those seven (7) actions are: - Insights To Become More Client - Focused, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
We hear many companies and individuals claim that they are client-focused. And we hear that clients will leave if we do not focus on their needs and if we are not providing better services and products than others. If we pause for a moment and think about this, could it be that the client-focused concept we often hear about is almost always about the benefits to the provider of the services and products? Do you really want to serve our clients with the best service for their benefit or for your benefit? Here are ten (10) insights from Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach to assist you in becoming more client-focused. - Keys to Getting Past The Gate-Keeper In Business
Savvy business people understand that one of the critical factors in developing a successful business and successful business relationship is getting past the "gate-keeper" that stands between you and the key decision maker you want to reach. - Major Characteristics of A Strategic Thinker
Let's begin with a definition of strategic thinking so we are all on the same page before reading the article. Strategic thinking is the way people think about, assess, view and create the future for themselves and others. - Major Benefits of Business Coaching for Individuals and Their Companies
Business coaching continues to grow and the benefits of business coaching to individuals and their companies are being realized and recognized. I want to share some of the major benefits I believe are being realized and have listed them below. Major benefits being realized from business coaching on an individual basis and their companies include - Powerful Communication Tips For Managers & Supervisors
Recently I read about a study conducted in 2001, which included approximately 20,000 exit interviews. A major finding in the study was that poor communications skills of supervisors were a leading factor in poor supervisory behavior, which caused people to leave their jobs. - Powerful Negotiation Tips
Each day we face some opportunity for negotiation. Let's face it, negotiation is a part of our every day life and dare I say that almost everything is negotiable? So being able to acquire powerful negotiation skills so you can negotiate effectively and successfully can make a big difference in your outcomes. The use of strategic thinking is a natural fit in negotiations and is critical to successful outcomes. - Powerful Ways To Get What You Want When Working With A Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Do you have any idea about the potential that lies within you? Do you know that you have the potential to achieve your dreams, but there is something that keeps you standing on the sidelines without making a move to get on to the playing field? What are you waiting for and what is holding you back? Perhaps you need the help of a coach, a business coach, and/or a strategic thinking business coach. If you want to unleash the power behind your dreams and get what you want, then take these ten (10) actions with a coach. - Powerful Tips To Remember Prospect and Client Names – From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Have you ever confused someone for someone else? How often do you find yourself struggling to remember someone's name? It is very important to remember a prospect or client's name because it is very critical to the relationship building process. There are some very powerful tips to help you remember names and your strategic thinking business coach wants to share ten (10) of my favorites.
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